Chicken with Snow Peas Stir-fry

Edible pea pods are a delicious crunchy vegetable great for a side or even a main dish and this chicken with snow peas stir-fry is no exception! Snow peas are more commonly associated with Chinese cuisine and in my opinion are a bit more tender than sugar snap peas. Both of these edible pea pod varieties have their own merits and can be used quite interchangeably in this and other dishes.

I have memories of snow peas from my days growing up in the Catskills when I would turn over the soil for the garden every spring and we would plant three large rows of these snow pea plants. They grew easily and fast, and soon after sowing them, we would have to put up cut tree branches to act as a trellis for the vines to climb on. Fond memories of my mom coming home from work during the week and picking a basket of these tender pods for the dinner table are still vivid in my mind today.

You can see from our other recipes that we use these snow peas in several dishes, but they are great as a main course. Leave the chicken out of this dish and you can also serve stir fried snow peas as a really easy side.

Mix the cornstarch, light soy sauce, and oil in a bowl for the marinade. And add toss in the chicken. Set aside. Mix ¼ cup of hot water or chicken stock with cornstarch into a slurry and set aside. If you like more sauce for the rice, increase your hot water/stock and add more salt or soy sauce to taste.

Heat the wok over high heat until smoking, add a tablespoon of oil to coat the wok and spread the chicken around evenly. Let the chicken sear (don’t move the pieces) for about 60 seconds until browned on one side. If the wok is heated properly, the chicken should not stick.

Next, give the chicken a quick stir and add the minced garlic and snow peas.

Add the shaoxing wine around the rim of the wok to deglaze and stir everything together using a bottom to top folding motion for about 30 seconds.

Movement is important for the snow peas to cook evenly. The pods should be just starting to turn bright green now. Working quickly, add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir to combine, about 15 seconds.

Stir up your slurry mix (the water and starch has probably separated by now) and add to the wok. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds, or until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. All of the pea pods should be bright green by now. Don’t overcook or you precious pea pods will become limp and turn yellow!

Edible pea pods are a delicious crunchy and tender vegetable great for a side or even a main dish and this easy-to-make chicken with snow peas stir-fry is no exception!

Author: Bill

Recipe type: chicken and Poultry

Cuisine: Chinese

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

For the marinade:

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon oil

For the rest of the dish:

2 chicken breasts, sliced into strips

¼ cup chicken stock or water

1½ tablespoons cornstarch

1 pound snow peas, trimmed and washed

1 tablespoon oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon shaoxing wine

1 tablespoon light soy

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

½ teaspoon sesame oil

½ teaspoon salt

Fresh ground white pepper

Pinch of sugar

Instructions

Mix the cornstarch, light soy sauce, and oil in a bowl for the marinade. And add toss in the chicken. Set aside. Mix ¼ cup of hot water or chicken stock with cornstarch into a slurry and set aside. If you like more sauce for the rice, increase your hot water/stock and add more salt or soy sauce to taste.

Heat the wok over high heat until smoking, add a tablespoon of oil to coat the wok and spread the chicken around evenly. Let the chicken sear (don’t move the pieces) for about 60 seconds until browned on one side. If the wok is heated properly, the chicken should not stick. Next, give the chicken a quick stir and add the minced garlic and snow peas. Add the shaoxing wine around the rim of the wok to deglaze and stir everything together using a bottom to top folding motion for about 30 seconds.

Movement is important for the snow peas to cook evenly. The pods should be just starting to turn bright green now. Working quickly, add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir to combine, about 15 seconds.

Stir up your slurry mix (the water and starch has probably separated by now) and add to the wok. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds, or until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. All of the pea pods should be bright green by now. Don’t overcook or you precious pea pods will become limp and turn yellow!

18 Comments

congrats on your website; it is my all-time favorite cooking site on the web.
your tips on techniques and what products are best for Asian cooking are
priceless. Esp. like your version of ants-climbing-tree. We do a lot of Asian, Mexican and Italian cooking. Added water chestnuts and pine nuts for my dish.

Hi fam! Its Louisa, your number one fan. I got some beautiful snow peas in my CSA this week and went right to google for “chicken and snow peas and woks of life” and voila! DEELISH! We loved it! Hope to see y’all one of these days!

I was looking online for a recipe using chicken and snow peas … your exceptional recipe popped up! Granted, I didn’t have oyster sauce and I substituted Mirin for the shaoxing wine … but my, oh my, what a delicious dish! It was just light and oh so tasty, just like you’d get in a fine restaurant.